matthews



(No-Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. v

H. W. MATTHEWS.

THRASHING MACHINE.

No; 259,185. I Patented June 6, 1882.

V I a I jnVeW-aor 7 z fi N. ET ,FhowLRhognphenWashin on,

(N0 Model.) I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' H; W. MATTHEWS.

'THRASHING MACHINE.

Patented June 6, 1882-.

v fnren'or figess es: I Q? g 223' N. PEIERS. PhnXo-Lilhographer. wumn m.u. c.

journals, and

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICEIO.

HUGH w. MATTHEWS, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

THRASHING-MACH'INE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 259,185, dated June 6,1882. 7 Application filed September 27, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Beit known that I, HUGH W. MATTHEWS, acitizen of the United States of America, residing at Baltimore, in thecounty of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Thrashing- Machines; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,suchas will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form apartof this specification. I j

My invention relates to improvements in thrashing-machines, and has forits object the more perfect and certain separation of the grain from thestraw and cha The subject-matterconstituting the inven tion will firstbe described audits mode of operation explained, and then designated inthe claim.

Figure 1 is aside elevation of my improved thrasher, showing thearrangement of the pulleys to effect their relative speed, also thebelts for operating the same. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectionof the same, showing the internal arrangement of the carriers andseparating-rakes. Fig. 3 is a view of the crankshaft. Fig. 4 is a topview of the gang-separators. Fig. 5 is a top view of the upper belt orstraw-conveyor, showing the grate at the end nearest the concave.

The letter A designates the outer frame or casing of machine, supportingthe various journals and bearings for the shafts. and having theopenings for the entrance and exit of the straw, grain, and chaff.

B designates the thrashing-cylinder; B, its d B the concave below thecylin- G designates the main shaft, which is a crank-shaft carrying thefirst gang of strawseparating rollers, and from which the secondaryshafts D, E, and F are driven.

D and D designate the shafts carrying the upper open straw-belt forconveying the straw after it. leaves the thrashing-cylinder to thegang-separators.

The open straw-belt consists of two belts, a, which are connected bycross-bars b. An inlar projections.

clined bottom, a, is provided, over the top of which the cross-bars arepassed. At thelower end the inclined bottom has slots d formed in it,constituting a'grate which is adjacent to the edge of the concave. Thegrain andchafi' pass down through these slots, and the crossbars movingover the slots serve to keep them belt, and thereby renders theoperation of the latter effectual.

f,f,f andf designate the pulleys which drive the gangs 1, 2, 3, and 4 ofstraw-separating rollers, respectively, each with increasing speed,owing to their decreasing diameter. In the presentinstance theseparating-rollers consist of disks 9, provided on their rims with teethor notches 9. They may, however, instead of being notched, consist ofhexagonal-shaped plates, or plates having any number of angu- Theserollers are mounted on the shafts G,h, W, and k at"intervals, and innumber sufficient to extend across the machine and constitute the gangs1,2, 3, and 4, before referred to.

The separating-rakes I are each provided on their upper face with teethor notches i, and at their lower end with a downwardly-projectin g head,7c,which part is mounted on the crankshaft G, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3,one of these rakes being arranged between each two rollers, g. Therollers ot' the gang 1 are secured to the crank-shaft, but areconcentric with the bearin gs of the said shaft. The highest or free endof each separatingrake is provided on its lower side with adownward-slanting edge, I, which rests upon the shaft h By thisarrangement,when the crank-shaft G rotates the lower ends of theseparating-rakes have an up-anddown motion and the entire rake has anendwise-reciprocating motion, while the highest or free end has a slightrising-and-falling motion as its downward-slanting edge 1 is drawn backand forth on the shaft h The effect of this on the notched rakes is tolower them, draw them back, raise them, and then shove them toward therear or end where the straw has its exit. By this operation the straw israised clear of the notched separating-rollers, shoved toward the rear,and then lowered on the rollers again. As there are four gangs ofrollers, and each gang, from 1 to 4, is rotating at an increased rate ofspeed, it will be seen their action on the straw will be to pull itapartand open or loosen it on its passage to the end where it has exit. Theconj int action of the separating rollers and rakes is to so thoroughlyloosen the straw that any grain which may remain mingled with the strawwill be separated and fall between the rakes and rollers onto theincline m, by which it is directed into the winnowing'shoe.

Below the concave and the lower end of the straw-belt is anincline,n,onto which falls part of the grain and chaff from thethrashing-cylinder. This incline directs the grain and chatt' onto theopen grain-belt, which is carried over the shafts E E. This grain-beltreceives all the grain which is directed onto it by the incline n, andalso all which is separated from the straw and passes through the slotsdin the inclined bottom of the straw-belt. The grainhelt is constructedlike the straw-belt--nam ely, with two belts, or, cross-bars b, and aninclined bottom, 0, which latter is without slots of any kind. Thisgrain-belt conveys the grain and chaff to its upper end,just below whichis an inclined board,p, onto which the grain and chaff fall, and bywhich they are directed into the winnowing-sboe L, which is providedwith screens. (Not shown.)

The shaft F carries the blower, the air-blast from which drives thechaff out the rear exit.

The operation of each of the several parts separately has already beenindicated, bu t, consideringthemin proper sequence,may be stated asfollows: The unthrashed straw and grain are passed below the cylinderand between it and the concave. The grain and chaff which are separatedfrom the straw by this operation are delivered onto the grated bottom ofthe open straw-belt, and most of them passes through the slots of thegrate and is delivered onto the open grain-belt below. Inasmuch as thecrossbars of the straw-belt are continually passing over the grate orslots, they serve to keep them clear or open, and the grain is therebyallowed to separate itself at once from the straw. The straw, with suchgrain as may not have been separated from it, is carried to theseparators, where, by the joint action of the separating, rakes androllers, heretofore explained, the strands of straw are so completelypulled apart and loosened that all the grain which may have remainedmingled with the straw is separated and passed below, while the strawpasses out the rear exit. While this operation is going on with thestraw the grain which was separated and dropped through the slots iscarried by the grain belt to the wiunower, where it meets such grain asmay have passed with the straw to the separators.

The straw-belt with a bottom having slots, the straw belt to carry thestraw combined with a grain-belt to carry the grain, and theseparating-rakes combined with the separating-rollers, may be used aloneor separately from each other, or together in one machine, as in thepresent case.

Having described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States- In a thrashing-machine, the combination ofa CI'ktlll(-Sll3fl3, separating-rakes, each having one end mounted onsaid crankshaft, and rollers, mounted also on the crank-shaft, butconcentric with the hearings of said shaft, the rakes and rollers beingplaced alternately, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

H UGH \V. MAT'III E WS.

\Vitnesses:

J NO. T. MADDOX, CHAS. B. MANN.

